Fire in the Chunnel

[leswell]

The reason I made the point about media overkill is that (at least in the UK) we all know that the media is heavily biased against railways and loves to have a dig whenever they can.

As a small shareholder I was regularly updated when the tunnel was being dug. I was expecting the BBC or one other TV media to make documentaries or give reports but there was total silence until something went wrong. The Base Tunnel project (the worlds longest tunnel currently been dug under the alps to short cut the Gotthard Line) must be going well as it is never reported in the media. They certainly seem not to have mentioned the new Lotschberg Base tunnel opening.

At first the British TBM (tunnel boring machine) encounted problems and expected difficult terrain lagging well behind the French machine. All duly reported. But when the British machine accelerated and started to outpace the French machine there was silence. There was silence when the British TMB reached the half-way point well before the French and continued to dig. The silence was broken when the builders ran into financial difficulty. In fairness there was more coverage of the construction of the channel tunnel link but then it did affect London.

Les

 

[class143]

The reason I made the point about media overkill is that (at least in the UK) we all know that the media is heavily biased against railways and loves to have a dig whenever they can.

That is really true, the media seem to enjoy trying to put people off traveling on the railway. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2004/safety_on_the_railways/, the BBC ITV and all the other media won't report that many people are injured everyday in cars, about the amount of more than one train. Its funny how they put this on though http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3991753.stm. Yet the media still seems to put trains as unsafe.

In 2002-3, the year which included the Potters Bar rail disaster, there were 50 deaths on the railways. The Department for Transport estimates there are 3,500 deaths on UK roads each year.

, all the proof. I bet a lot of them were trespassers or people comitting suicide. Anyway thanks for the update Les

 

[bendorsey]

Hi leswell:

I remember that coverge too. Everything running hunky-dory generated a deafening silence. The slightest hiccup produced tales of the pending end of the universe. No different here.

Sad to say - good news isn't considered worth reporting. It doesn't capture market-share which generates revenue from advertising.

Do we really need to know which movie star or rock band musician is currently in rehab, getting a divorce, has been abducted by aliens, etc. Who cares! The world is going to hell in a handbag and all they want to talk about is useless trivia. Leave that stuff to the tabloids and fan mags. Put NEWS back in the news.

(end soapbox mode), lol.

Ben

 

[perry_weekley]

Not in our life times.

Europe to North America is impossible due to the mid-atlantic ridge.

Oddly enough this is the only thing that caught my attention. Truthfully they have already planned a transatlantic tunnel.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6734188128065094941
This is the TV show that I watched showing off that it is possible.

The biggest problem with a Transatlantic Tunnel is the whole Money thing.

I feel the world doesn't even Care about money really. Yes we use it, yes it is cause of greed,but does it really matter? Just make more paper and give it away. Gold backing up cash? Which country has really had enough gold for the last 100 years?
Anyway back to the original topic. The Chunnel, which is mentioned in the show and this topic, is way to important to lose to toxic materials. A better way to transport those materials is to use nuclear waste cars. Either that or use better made cars to carry dangerous materials through the Chunnel.

 

[bendorsey]

I can't see how a transatlantic tunnel can cross the mid-atlantic ridge. This is where the north american and european continental plates are expanding due to magma welling up from deep within the earth. Its tectonically unstable, constantly spewing magma (lava), almost always undergoing earthquakes, and spreading apart. What they going to use? An asbestos expansion joint, lol? Also, most of the atlantic ocean is 2 miles deep. Think of the enormous pressure required in the tunnel. I'm not certain humans can work under those conditions. Even if it were 20 tracks wide it would never recoup the cost of construction and how long would it take? I don't remember how long the chunnel took but a transatlantic tunnel would take decades if not centuries. Do you really think the fickle will of politicans and governments would be able to stick to such a large, expensive, and long term project? I certainly don't.

Realistically this will never happen.

Ben

 

[builder300544]

I can't see how a transatlantic tunnel can cross the mid-atlantic ridge. This is where the north american and european continental plates are expanding due to magma welling up from deep within the earth. Its tectonically unstable, constantly spewing magma (lava), almost always undergoing earthquakes, and spreading apart. What they going to use? An asbestos expansion joint, lol? Also, most of the atlantic ocean is 2 miles deep. Think of the enormous pressure required in the tunnel. I'm not certain humans can work under those conditions. Even if it were 20 tracks wide it would never recoup the cost of construction and how long would it take? I don't remember how long the chunnel took but a transatlantic tunnel would take decades if not centuries. Do you really think the fickle will of politicans and governments would be able to stick to such a large, expensive, and long term project? I certainly don't.

Realistically this will never happen.

Ben

You,ll just have to design them a bridge then.

Regards, John

 

[Lots_Trains]

The north and south islands of new Zealand might be possible but I don't know the geological situation in that area.

Hi Ben nope won't happen here, there is a major fault that goes though the strait area, plus the population of the country could never support such a project, it would bankrupt the country. Maybe a bridge oneday but highly unlikely

Cheers